FanHouse ChrisKluwe

Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around with his finger in the air while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds.

Here's Week 7 at a glance, where we point out the horses destined for the Kentucky Derby and jeer those headed to the glue factory.

Studs

Steven Jackson, RB St. Louis (25 carries, 160 yards, 3 TDs) -- The problems in Dallas are apparent, and they deal a lot more with a porous defense than with a questionable trade deal and an injured starting quarterback. Jackson is basically the St. Louis offense, accounting for more than half of the Rams' offense in his breakout performance of 2008. His day was highlighted by a 56-yard dash through diving Dallas defenders and was the crème brûlée on an already exquisite feast. Left for dead two weeks ago, the Rams have reeled off two straight against tough NFC East opponents and are in the only division they might have a shot at winning, thanks in large part to Jackson's incredible performance.

What a crazy game.

You've got an old-school NFC North -- formerly NFC Central -- battle. The black and blue division. Two foes who like to use the "run and defense/smash mouth" method to win football games.

Or not.

Let's try 558 yards passing as opposed to 208 yards rushing. Or think about the 72 passing attempts compared to 54 rushes.

People who bet the "under" in this game could see the writing on the wall before the first quarter was over.

Let's try to sort out this mess of a game, which was by far the most fun game I've seen this season. Obviously my being a Bears fan helped, but there were so many wacky occurrences. Like ...

- The Vikings lost the turnover battle five to one, yet still only lost by a touchdown.

- Gus Frerotte threw four interceptions to a Bears secondary that has been decimated with injuries -- Nathan Vasher, Charles Tillman, and Danieal Manning all missed the game.

- It was Gus Frerotte and Kyle Orton at QB. Glance back up above at those passing vs. rushing numbers.

Chris Kluwe has many talents. He's an excellent Guitar Hero player, and apparently a pretty good World of Warcraft player as well.

But when it comes to punting, which is his day job, Kluwe has done a lot recently to piss off his coach. A couple of weeks ago he failed to punt the ball away from Reggie Bush on a night where Bush returned two punts for touchdowns and almost returned a third, head coach Brad Childress got into a screaming match with him on the sideline, then publicly called him out after the game.

Now Kluwe's managed to make failing to punt out of bounds just the second-worst thing he's done as a punter this year. In the first half against the Bears, Kluwe managed to drop a snap that hit him in the hands. He then scooped it up, fumbled it when hit as he tried to punt it, and the Bears recovered for a touchdown.

When he's not failing to punt out of bounds or dropping the ball, he's actually a very good punter -- which is why the Vikings signed him a six-year extension during the offseason. But Childress and Kluwe have had their run-ins, and just two weeks ago the Vikings worked out punters to try to light a fire under Kluwe, so it wouldn't be out of the question that Childress would decide he's tired of his punter.

Kluwe isn't the only Vikings special-teamer to blow it today. Punt returner Charles Gordon accidentally ran into a bouncing punt that the Bears fell on in the end zone, which explains how the Vikings trail 27-24 at the half in a game where they have out-gained the Bears by nearly 100 yards.

Anyone who watched Reggie Bush glide into the end zone in the fourth quarter last night probably wondered why in the world the Vikings would let him touch the ball. Bush spent the second half using punt returns the way a painter uses a canvas so why wouldn't the Vikes just put the ball out of bounds and try to stop the mistake-prone Saints offense?

According to Brad Childress, that's what they intended to do. He laid the blame on punter Chris Kluwe.

"Both of those kicks are supposed to be out of bounds and when you say to somebody kick the ball out of bounds, that's what you expect to happen. That's what I expect to happen with a professional football kicker...If he can't do that, I'll find someone that can kick the ball out of bounds."

If the call was to kick out of bounds then Kluwe has to put the ball out of bounds. Still, I'm not sure how wise is it for Childress to publicly rake one player over the coals. There were other guys on the field for Bush's punt returns and when Pierre Thomas nearly broke a pair of kickoff returns which points to general issues on the special teams.

By directing blame at Kluwe, Childress may be trying to deflect some criticism from himself. His team pulled this one out but it was there for the Saints because Childress' offensive play calling remained predicated on minimizing return on gift turnovers. But there's no scapegoat for those issues.

(H/T PFT)